Law or Faith?

Morning: Psalm 50; Ecclesiastes 3:16—4:3; Galatians 3:1-14

Evening: Psalm 8, 84; Matthew 14:13-21

The radically new thing about Jesus is his invitation to trust God instead of striving to obey what people believe are God’s rules.  In other words, live by Faith rather than by Law.  Trying always to do the right thing, Paul suggests, is a curse; God does not want us to live under that curse, but in a free, trusting and loving relationship with the Cosmos and the Creator.  What this means is that when you live in trust and love, in keeping with Jesus’ invitation, you know how to live a good life, and you choose to, without compulsion.

Standing against the present powers

Morning: Psalm 119:49-72; Ecclesiastes 3:1-15; Galatians 2:11-21

Evening: Psalm 49; Matthew 14:1-12

Yesterday was the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.  Did you recall the picture of the lone rebel standing in the path of four army tanks?  Sometimes the present powers don’t accept being questioned.  John stood against Herod and was executed. Jesus, too, stood firm against unrighteous power and was killed.  I wonder: “On which side of the powers do I stand?”  Sometimes that’s not clear.  Even when it is, I [don't] always have the courage to stand, with Jesus, for justice … I pray that I might.  Better still, perhaps we can stand together?

The humbling experience of your hometown

Morning: Psalm 45; Ecclesiastes 2:16-26; Galatians 1:18 – 2:10

Evening: Psalms 47, 48; Matthew 13:53-58

I left Manchester, England when I was 18 and never went back there to live.  Now, when I visit my family there, I sometimes feel as if they think of me as the same immature, annoying teenager that left there in 1971!  Do you ever have that kind of experience with your family?  I find it humbling, to say the least … that people think I haven’t gained any wisdom or understanding in all these years!  Maybe I’ve gained less than I think?  It’s vaguely reassuring that Jesus had a similar experience in his hometown.

What will the end be like? … Joy, not more suffering

Morning: Psalms 41, 52; Ecclesiastes 2:1-15; Galatians 1:1-17
Evening: Psalm 44; Matthew 13:44-52

Scholars agree that scribes and editors have put into Jesus’ mouth their own explanations of what he meant.  I trust that this Gospel passage is one of these: “At the end of the age, the angels will separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire.” Really?  I’m confident Jesus foretold the final victory of good over evil.  But I believe he taught that God’s final intention for all things is not weeping and gnashing of teeth, but the joy of finding hidden treasure … not more suffering, but the end of suffering

Prayer doesn’t change God but the one who prays

Morning: Psalm 63:1-11; Ecclesiastes 1:1-11; Acts 8:26-40

Evening: Psalm 103; Luke 11:1-13

Prayer is consistently understood as asking for things. As with other clichéd ways of thinking, it is difficult to see prayer differently … when you believe you know what something means, you don’t hear when an alternative is offered.  But the Lord’s Prayer – the model Jesus gives his disciples to teach them to pray – begins with an invitation that God’s ways will prevail rather than ours.  The rest of the prayer seeks help to live well.  Thus Jesus teaches that prayer changes us, not God.  And when we persist with it, prayer transforms our hearts.

Contentment: The Life that really is Life

Morning: Psalms 30, 32; Proverbs 25:15-28; 1 Timothy 6:6-21

Evening: Psalms 42, 43; Matthew 13:36-43

Some people tell me they’re ‘down-sizing’ … they have accumulated too much.  St. Paul says ‘great gain’ comes from contentment since “we brought nothing into the world and it is certain we can take nothing out of it.”  Shun riches and the love of money, says Paul; instead, “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness … fight the good fight of faith”.  Then he encourages the rich in good works, generosity and sharing … so that they may have “the life that really is life.”  In other words … seeking Life’s fulfilment in riches is an illusion.

Goodness grows in the world from small seeds

Morning: Psalm 31; Proverbs 23:19-21, 29-24:2; 1 Timothy 5:17-25
Evening: Psalm 35; Matthew 13:31-35

Jesus describes in parables what he calls the “kingdom of heaven” … not in specific terms but enough that you know his vision of human destiny is of something very good.  This “kingdom” will really come here ‘on earth’, but not without challenges.  Even as goodness grows in the world, evil forces may attempt to supplant it … but to no avail.  The parables of mustard seed and yeast express the hope that even small, apparently insignificant, influences may be such a power for good that goodness itself will come to define our lives. Indeed, that’s possible now.